Finding Ways to Deal with James
by pieinthesky323
Summary: A version of how Lily and James fell in love. Or rather, how James got Lily to fall for him.
1. Endings and Beginnings

_End of sixth year:_

"Listen, I know you will all think this is horribly unfair," Professor McGonagall said to her sixth-year students. They had finished their final exams and the year was almost over. They were leaving tomorrow but the sixth-year students had been called to one last meeting before the year ended. "I have a rather intense project for you to complete over the summer." Her students groaned in one harmonious complaint. "Now, I know you don't want to," she snapped as only McGonagall could, instantly silencing the room. "But your NEWTs are next year and you need all the chance to prepare that you can get. This assignment is designed to prepare you for your classes next year." At this point a hand shot into the air. "Yes, Miss Evans?"

"What is this project, exactly?" a sixteen-year-old Lily Evans asked.

"Yes, this assignment is to show you your strengths and weaknesses. We want you to choose a class that this school teaches; you are to write the professor over the summer to tell him or her that you are using the class. If you need any help you can get it from that professor. Once you have chosen your class you are to plan a detailed unit for the class as though you were teaching second years." There was another chorus of groans from the class. Again, she silenced them. Another hand shot into the air. "Mr. Black this had better be relevant."

"Yeah, Professor, we're supposed to do this thing with all our other homework? That hardly seems fair!"

"Black, you don't do your homework."

"Well, I'm concerned for those who do," he said, flashing her a bright grin and flipping his hair out of his face. Most of the girls in the class sighed or laughed as they watched him. Lily could have sworn McGonagall rolled her eyes at him.

"Alright, Mr. Black, if you'll allow me to continue." She turned back to face the class again. "The other part of this assignment is to present your lecture to a class of second years. Now, as Mr. Black pointed out, this is a lot of work so you will be working with one other student." At this everyone began looking around trying to catch their friend's eyes so they could partner up. Lily felt several eyes on her but she was, personally, trying to catch Remus Lupin's eye. If she had to do this assignment she wanted to do it with another responsible student. He, however, was looking at Peter Pettigrew, Sirius Black, and, of course, she thought disgustedly, James Potter. "Before you all get carried away," McGonagall said bringing the attention back to herself, "I have a list here of the partners. This list was put together by Professor Dumbledore himself, so I advise you all treat the arrangements with respect." She pulled out a long sheet of parchment and began to read off names. Lily watched her friends' reactions as they got partnered with people. She rolled her eyes with them if it was someone unfortunate and she smiled with them if they got someone good. Peter was paired with Severus Snape, which was a very interesting pair, and Sirius and Remus were paired together. She sighed as she heard Remus's name but immediately focused as she heard her own. "Lily Evans and," McGonagall stopped and stared at the paper in disbelief.

"What, Professor?" she asked anxiously. McGonagall looked up at her in confusion.

"Lily Evans and James Potter," she said quietly. Lily stared at her in shock. James, however, jumped up and whooped as he threw his fist into the air. Everyone laughed. "Sit down, Potter!" McGonagall scolded seriously. He sank down into his chair and winked at Lily, who was still sitting in disbelief and shock. She could not believe this was happening. This was ridiculous. Dumbledore couldn't possibly have paired her with James Potter. She couldn't believe it.

McGonagall shook her head and continued reading names. Once she had finished and put the parchment away she said, "I suggest you all find time before the school year is out to meet with each other and construct a schedule of some sort for the summer." With that she dismissed them and everyone hurried to get out the door. Lily's friends rushed to her outside in the hallway.

"Good lord Lily, I can't believe your luck!" her friend Amanda exclaimed. Lily was still shocked beyond words; she was surrounded by several girls who were sympathetically trying to get her to respond to them. Oddly enough, it was her partner who got her to talk. James waltzed up to her and slung his arm over her shoulder.

"This summer will be so much fun! Don't you think, Lily? We can spend every day together! It will be like you and I are a couple!" She threw off his arm and whirled around to face him.

"James Potter! We are not, and never will be, a couple! Get that through your head right now! I'm not working with you out of choice, I'm doing it because Dumbledore thinks we need to be paired together!" she practically screamed at him. He threw his knee-weakening grin her way only to have her scowl back at him.

"Of course, Evans," he said theatrically. The crowd surrounding them was growing now, having been joined by Sirius, Peter, and Remus and several others. "I would never think anything different of a girl like you!"

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" she asked hotly.

"It means I would never think you would want to go out with me," he finished. Then he smiled and added, "Unless of course you want to?"

"James!" she growled, "I'm not doing this with you here. I might just curse you if I stay here. That big head of yours is getting out of control. Find me later." She whirled around and left, pulling herself through the passage way behind the Fat Lady so she could finish packing her things. Her fellow sixth-year girls soon followed, joining her in the dorm room where she was throwing her things very violently into her trunk.

"Lily," Cara began calmly.

"Hold on girls, I need to work out some anger before I can talk," she said. She threw several books into the trunk but didn't really calm down until she threw a small lamp across the room, allowing it to shatter into millions of pieces. Then she sank down onto her bed and buried her head into her hands. Her friends were instantly there to comfort her. Amanda repaired the lamp with her wand and set it down before joining the others.

"Listen, we know how awful it must be to have to spend time with him," Laura began. "We're here for you. We'll help you get through the summer."

"God, girls, this is awful. I was really hoping to get to spend some quality time with my family this summer. How am I going to do that when James now has an all-access pass to find me anytime he wants to under the prospect of 'school work'. What was Dumbledore thinking?"

"They always say he has his reasons, but even McGonagall was having troubles seeing them with this decision. Did you see her face?" Ruth asked the others. They all nodded in agreement. Ruth, Amanda, Laura and Cara were the other sixth-year girls in Gryffindor with Lily. She had lived with them since year one and they were her closest friends. They understood why she was so angry about having to spend the summer with James. He spent the entire school year following Lily, talking to Lily, teasing Lily and, on rare occasions, hexing Lily because Sirius put him up to it. None of them understood how he could profess himself to like her so much since he didn't exactly starve himself for dates and girls. Why would Dumbledore have paired them together for a summer assignment? Didn't Lily deserve a break?"

"Maybe he'll be different when he's by himself," Laura suggested tentatively. She didn't want Lily to fly off the handle at her but she wanted Lily to look for a positive. Besides, most of them knew James more personally and they all knew he didn't act like that when one-on-one with someone. Of course, he only acted truly awful when around Lily, so maybe there wouldn't be a difference. Lily scoffed at the idea.

"I doubt that. He'll probably just take the opportunity to curse me when no one is around to reverse it."

"If he does that then curse him first! You're faster and better with a wand then he is and you both know it," Ruth said fiercely. "If he tries anything at all, show him the real Lily Evans, the one who won't keep her temper in check all the time."

"You're right, Ruth. He can't get away with anything," Lily agreed, the optimist in her finally shining through. "And who knows, maybe Laura is right. Maybe he'll be a little more civil, if not because we're alone then because we have to do some serious work." She smiled. "I'll make this work. I'll be the bigger person here and I'll try to act civil around him as well. Maybe things will be ok. I mean, I can at least get through the summer, right?" she looked around at her girls who all nodded in agreement. "So who are you partnered with?" she asked them, not quite remembering all the names.

"I'm with Ruth," Laura said and Ruth nodded.

"I'm with Luke Reynolds," Cara said, blushing fiercely. The girls all knew she had a large crush on him. "How am I going to survive? I can't usually say two words around him!" she said.

"Oh Cara, you'll be fine!" Lily said. "It's an opportunity for you to spend some time getting to know him better!" She knew Luke only a little. He was a member of the Ravenclaw house and a chaser on the Quidditch team there. He seemed like a nice guy and Cara really liked him.

"I hope you're right, Lily," Cara replied. "I'm just going to have to spend my time thinking he is you so I don't blush every time I see him."

"God, Cara, you are so bad around guys!" Ruth said.

"No, only this one!" They all laughed.

"I'm partnered with Grace Chatfield," Amanda said, wrinkling her nose in disgust.

"Oh God, that slut? I'm sorry," Laura said.

"Laura! You shouldn't talk about her like that!" Lily said. "I hear she's a very good student."

"Yeah, that's great, too bad she's impossible to work with!" Ruth added. Lily sighed. It was true; Grace, a member of Hufflepuff, was not known for being nice. In fact, she'd gained quite the reputation for being a complete prat around a lot of people. But she did get around, that was for sure.

"Don't worry," Lily said to her friends. "We'll all get through this summer. I mean, come on, if I'm willing to try and get along with James Potter then you girls have it easy!" They couldn't help but agree as they finished packing their things before the feast that night.

Despite Lily's determination to make this summer work, she still spent the evening and the next day avoiding James Potter like the plague. He found her on the train in a compartment with Ruth and Laura. It seemed most of the sixth years were taking this last opportunity to meet with their partners and discuss the summer. At least, that was what Cara and Amanda were doing.

"Hey there, love!" James said obnoxiously. Lily rolled her eyes.

"What do you want?"

"How about we make plans for the summer holiday," he said, winking at her.

"We're not 'making plans' as you put it James. We're building a schedule so we can do this project together," Lily corrected him.

"Yes, whatever you say Lily, my dear."

"Stop using those stupid pet names as well. I'm not going to respond to them."

"As you wish," he replied cheekily.

"Hey," Ruth said, "if you two are going to bicker like this then go somewhere else. Laura and I are trying to work."

"Sorry girls," Lily said, turning to her friends. She picked herself up off the seat and walked into the corridor with James. Several students, on seeing them, quickly ducked into the nearest compartments in hopes of avoiding being caught in the crossfire of the fight they all saw coming. "James, I don't want to fight with you all summer. Can we make a deal?" she asked him as they walked towards an empty compartment.

"What?"

"Let's promise not to hex, tease, or trick each other this summer, and when I say 'we' I mean you," she said seriously. He grinned evilly. It was that stupid grin that he and Sirius shared when they were getting an idea that wouldn't end well for most people.

"You know, if I agree to this I'm giving up a lot of what makes me, me. I think it's only fair that you should have to give something as well."

"Do you now? And what would that be?"

"Go on a date with me."

"What?! No way! I'm not going on a date with you!" she said, immediately outraged.

"Then I can't promise not to pull pranks on you," he replied simply, twirling his wand in his hand. Lily sighed. Making this work was going to be a lot harder than she'd originally anticipated. Why had she thought this would work at all?

"Ok," she said slowly. James looked up at her in amazement and opened his mouth to say something. She held up her hand to stop him. "I'll go on a date with you at the end of the summer if you manage to behave yourself while we work together." He thought about that for a minute and then nodded.

"Ok, deal," he said sticking out his hand to shake hers. She grabbed his hand and shook it, sealing the deal.


	2. A Little Meeting in London

Lily was sitting on her bed at home, reading her favorite book, _Emma_, by Jane Austin. She had been sleeping and reading a lot since she'd gotten home from Kings Cross station three days ago. Her mother was downstairs watching one of those weird daytime television shows, her father was at work and her sister, well, she was doing whatever she wanted to be doing. Lily didn't care.

Lily looked up as something tapped against her window. There was a large Tawny owl there, carrying a letter. She quickly let him in and untied the letter. The owl flew to her dresser and landed there with a soft hoot. Lily opened the letter addressed to her and found it was from James. The most unfortunate part of this summer was the fact that she had to give James her home address. She'd asked her parents if they could move after the summer was over but, unfortunately, that was slightly impossible. Not that she'd seriously thought they would do it or anything. She read the letter through quickly.

_Lily, my love,_

_Oh, sorry, I'm not supposed to call you that. Don't hold it against me, ink is too permanent to erase._

Lily rolled her eyes. Really, he was a wizard, he could have just erased it with his wand.

_Anyways, I was thinking we could meet this weekend in London. We can go to lunch and spend the afternoon working._

Go to lunch? This was getting ridiculous. Why couldn't they just find a library and work there?

_Let me know what you think of this plan. Send Laurel (the owl) back with your reply._

_Sincerely,_

_James_

_P.S. How am I doing so far on our bet?_

She actually smiled at the last part. Then she went downstairs to tell her mom she needed to go to London for the weekend. Their family lived in the country during the summer with her aunt but they owned a flat in the city. She was planning on staying there from Friday until Sunday. It would give her a chance to see Amanda as well since she also lived in the city.

"Mom, I need to go to London this weekend. I have to work on some school work with a friend from school," she said as she bounded down the stairs, her hair flying after her.

"Yeah, sure honey. I'm sure your father won't mind driving you," her mom replied, not looking up from the TV screen.

"Thanks, Mom," Lily said. She couldn't help but notice the lack of interest her mom took. It was so unlike her. "Is everything okay?"

"Yes, of course. I'm just not feeling that great," her mom replied.

"Can I get you anything?"

"No, I'll be alright. I think I might go lie down for a bit."

"Ok. Thanks again Mom."

"Sure sweetie, you do what you need to do to get your work done." Lily ran back upstairs and replied to James, sending the parchment off with the owl.

"Dad, can you drive me into London this Friday? I need to stay there this weekend so I can meet a friend to do some school work," Lily said over dinner that night. Her mom was feeling much better and was her usual cheery self.

"I told her that would be alright, don't you agree, Ray?" her mom said.

"Of course sweetie," Ray said, smiling at his daughter. "Anything for our little girl." Petunia scowled at Lily then. Lily ignored it.

"Thanks, Dad."

"When do you want to leave? Do you need me to leave work early?"

"No, Dad, we can leave whenever you get home." They ate the rest of the meal quietly, enjoying themselves. They had the place to themselves this week. Her aunt was on holiday in France.

"Mother," Petunia said as they were cleaning up. "Vernon is coming up here tonight. That's okay, right?" Her voice made it clear that he was coming despite what her parents thought.

"Of course, Petunia," her mom said. Petunia walked out of the room without saying anything else.

"Mom, why do you put up with her talking to you like that?"

"Honey, don't go there. We don't need to start that now. It's not worth it. She and Vernon will be married at the end of the summer and she will move out. I'm not going to confront her now or she will never come home again." Lily nodded. She understood where her mom was coming from, but she still hated the fact that Petunia got away with everything. If Petunia hated her because of magic that was one thing, but to hate her parents because they supported Lily was just wrong.

Friday came before too long and, before Lily was really ready, her father was pulling up to the front of the house. She grabbed her school bag and the duffle she'd packed for the weekend and brought them downstairs. Her dad was greeting her mom, kissing her on the cheek, and telling her he'd be home just as soon as he could. Her mom still wasn't feeling great.

"Hi sweetheart! Are you ready to go?" he asked as he saw Lily enter the room.

"As ready as I'll ever be," she said, throwing her mom a smile and giving her a hug goodbye. Her dad picked up her luggage to take to the car while she said goodbye to her mom. "Feel better soon, ok?" she said, concerned.

"I'm fine Lily, just a little stressed with the wedding planning, that's all. Now, my dear daughter," she said, placing her hands on either side of Lily's head, "I refuse to have you worrying about me when you are about to spend a weekend in London! Go and have fun!" Lily laughed and nodded. She gave her mom one more quick hug and then ran to join her father. It was late in the afternoon now but the summer heat was still lingering in the air; however, storm clouds were rolling in. If the weatherman was right, it was going to rain, but Saturday promised to be just as hot as the rest of the week had been.

Lily took the tube to the stop nearest to the restaurant where she was meeting James. She had the address in her bag with a few of her school things so they could start brainstorming ideas. She, personally, wanted to do something for potions class. She found potions fascinating and she was really good at making them.

James was already there when she arrived. He waved her over to a table in the very farthest corner of the restaurant. She rolled her eyes as she sat down.

"Why are we sitting here, James?" she asked pointedly.

"I haven't the faintest idea as to what you are talking about," he said, grinning slyly.

"Oh really? So we're just secluded form the rest of the people in here because the waitress didn't like you?"

"Oh no, I asked to be seated here," he said.

"James! This was not supposed to be a date."

"Of course not Lily! How ever did you come to that conclusion?" Lily raised her eyebrow at him. "I was merely thinking it would be quieter back here and, therefore, easier to work," he finished smiling at the excuse he'd come up with. Unfortunately for Lily, it was a good excuse and, being unwilling to press the matter further with him in a public place, she nodded and sighed before pulling out several books. James opened his eyes wide as he saw that. "You actually brought school work?"

"Of course I did, James! I'm not here for my health, obviously. I'm here to start working on this project of ours."

"Well, yeah, but you actually brought books?"

"Yes, I brought a few from my books from second year."

"You still have those?"

"Well of course. What else would I do with them?"

"Me and Sirius, we make it tradition to burn the books we used the previous year when we finish the year," he said playfully.

"You would," she scolded. "They're books. You shouldn't go burning books. I mean, at least give them to someone who needs them or something. There are better things to do than burning them every year."

"Maybe so, but burning them is so much more fun."

"Whatever. Let's just work. What class were you thinking you'd like to do?"

"I haven't thought about the project at all."

"Honestly, James, how do you do well in school? I don't get it."

"I mostly copy Moony's work."

"Are you kidding? He's so responsible. I can't believe he puts up with that."

"He's a Marauder! Of course he puts up with it!"

"That's not a good reason."

"It works for me!"

"Fine, whatever, so think now, which class do you want to work with?" James took a bit out of the food the waitress brought them. They were getting surprisingly good service for being so far out of everyone's way, but then, James kept throwing the poor girl his famous smiles every time she came by.

"I like transfiguration. What about that? You like McGonagall, don't you?"

"Yeah, but I'm not that great at transfiguration."

"If by not great you mean that only Moony and I can get better scores than you, then I guess that could be true, but otherwise, everyone else would debate that statement," James pointed out.

"Ok, but I just never really feel comfortable with it. And I'm already having trouble on the homework we got from McGonagall for the summer."

"You already started it?" James asked incredulously.

"Well, yeah, of course," Lily defended. "Haven't you?"

"It's only June!"

"I know that. But do you really want it hanging over your head all summer? I don't, so I get it done early."

"Well, you've always been a little crazy," he said, turning his attention towards his food again. "Does Transfiguration work for you or did you have something else in mind?"

"I was thinking we could do potions," Lily said, picking up the book. James choked on the sandwich he'd bitten into and coughed to clear his throat. Lily looked at him in alarm.

"Are you serious?"

"Yes."

"No way, I hate potions! That class is awful! And Slughorn is even worse! Seriously, he hates me!"

"Well, James, you and Sirius did melt his cauldron with a Filibuster Firework," Lily pointed out.

"That's besides the point. Plus, Moony lit the thing. And, if you really want to be specific, it was closer to three fireworks. We were betting on who could make the shot. Of course, Wormtail couldn't but the rest of us did."

"And you wonder why you got detention for a month?" she asked. He grinned and nodded. She shook her head and gave up. "Fine, we won't do potions. But, Transfiguration?"

"Yeah! Oh come on! It will be fun! Besides, I'll help you if you need it. Maybe I can even help you with your homework, you know?" Lily might have agreed to try and get along with James Potter but she wasn't about to accept homework help from him yet. It wasn't like they were best friends or anything.

"No, that's ok. I'll figure the homework out eventually. I just need to practice. I guess, if you want to do Transfiguration we can. It won't be very popular, not many people will want to work with McGonagall, I'd guess."

"Does that matter?"

"No, not really, I'm just pointing it out."

"I guess. Well, she'll be more popular than Binns at least!" They both laughed at that. The rest of the afternoon went fairly well. They wrote the letter they needed to send to their professor and then they decided where and when to meet again. After that they parted ways, James going to meet his family for dinner and Lily going to see Amanda, who was most interested to know how the first encounter with James had gone.


	3. Adventures with the Marauders

Several weeks later Lily woke up with the sun shining in her eyes. There had been a thunder storm the night before but it was obviously over now. She rolled over to look at the clock. It was flashing 12:00 repeatedly. She realized the house must have lost power sometime during the night so she grabbed her watch instead.

She sat up quickly staring at her watch in disbelief. James was going to be at her house in ten minutes. She had over slept because the stupid alarm didn't go off.

"God, Lily, you're a witch and you're of age. Are you seriously relying on muggle alarm clocks still?" she said to herself as she ran to the bathroom to jump in the shower.

Fifteen minutes later she walked downstairs, dragging a brush through her tangled red hair, to find James sitting in the living room with her mom, talking.

"Good morning, Lily," her mom said brightly. "How did you sleep?"

"I slept a little to long, I'm sorry James," she replied turning to James. He grinned at her.

"Nothing to worry about, your mom was just telling me about your sister's wedding. You didn't tell me you had a sister."

"You didn't ask, James," she said rolling her eyes. The past few weeks had uncovered some surprising information about James Potter for Lily. She had learned that he could indeed be quite civil when tempted. He was a nice person too, despite how he acted at school. He was also being very helpful on the project. He almost always did the work he was supposed to do on his own and he was coming up with some good ideas for the structure of their lesson. McGonagall had replied to their letter telling them they would get three classes in which to convey the lesson on transfiguring a moving object into a solid one. Since this had never been one of Lily's strong points, today she and James were going to practice.

"I'll make sure to do that next time then," he said.

"Yeah, sure. Anyways, should we go work?" Lily said. He stood up and followed her out of the room. She led him out onto a screened in porch since the temperature was nice outside. Plus, it was out of the way of the rest of the house so they could get some privacy. That was always a good thing in case she lost her temper, which didn't happen too much these days since James was upholding his end of the deal fairly well. This was rather unfortunate of course since it meant that she'd have to go on a date with him at the end of the summer.

"This is a cool house," James said, sinking down onto the couch.

"Thanks. It's my aunts," she replied.

"So Lily, I was thinking that-" he started. Lily let out a yell as someone apparated right on top of her, knocking her over and falling down on top of her. Someone else appeared too but he came in gracefully by the table. "You two are late!" James said.

"Sirius! Get your fat ass off me!" Lily said, trying to push the boy off of her. He started laughing and picked himself up slowly.

"Good day, ms. Lily Evans. Have you missed me?" he said, looking down at her. Remus Lupin stepped forward and offered her a hand up, which she took gratefully.

"No, of course not. The safety of my being is always in danger with you around," Lily retorted shortly. "What are you all doing at my house?"

"James invited us," Sirius said, grinning.

"Oh did he know?" she said, turning to James.

"Well, what I was saying before we were interrupted was that, I think we should take the day off and go do something fun."

"That's not why you came over, James," Lily pointed out.

"No, but we've been working hard since we got home from school! I need a break! Remus and Sirius haven't even started yet!"

"That's not true!" Remus replied.

"It's not?" Sirius asked in surprise.

"No, we're doing a class for Defense Against the Dark Arts. I received a reply from the professor last week."

"Why didn't I know about this?" Sirius asked in confusion.

"Because you didn't want to talk about homework last time you were over."

"And why would I?" Sirius asked grinning mischievously, "When there were so many more interesting things to talk about?" He cast a look at James and winked. "I still don't know how you lucked out, Prongs," he continued. "You are the only one who got partnered with a girl. Why couldn't I get partnered with a girl?"

"Because the point of this was not to hook you up with somebody," Remus replied.

"Why not? Shit happens. It wouldn't be a bad thing."

"I give up. I see you cannot be swayed," Remus said, sitting in a chair. "How is your summer going Lily?"

"It's going very well, thank you."

"Of course it is! You get to spend some quality time with James!" Sirius said, moving to stand next to his friend.

"I don't always see that as a good thing," Lily muttered. Remus laughed softly.

"Why are we just standing around here? Let's go do something!" Sirius said excitedly.

"Like what? We're in the country," Lily pointed out.

"I don't think that's going to stop him," Remus said.

"Quite stating the obvious you two! Let's go!" With that he grabbed Lily's arm and dragged her back into the house. He found her mom in the kitchen, sitting at the table with the wedding planner, going over some details for the wedding, which was to be held on August 7th. "Excuse me, Mrs. Evans?" he said politely, not letting go of Lily, "We're going to go into London today, is it ok if we take your daughter with us?" She looked up at Lily in confusion.

"A few of my friends just dropped in," Lily explained, "they want to go do something today. I'll be back later. If it's to late, I'll stay in town."

"Ok sweetie, have fun," her mom replied. Sirius dragged Lily from the room.

"Alright, let's go," he said to James. "You can side along apparate Lily since she doesn't know where we're going."

"Can't you just tell me?" she said quickly.

"No!" Then he was gone. James grabbed Lily's arm and held on tight before disapparating as well.

They apparated in London at the entrance to a paintballing park. Lily looked at the sign and shook her head. "James! Sirius! I am not doing this!"

"Oh yes you are," they said together. They both wrapped their arms around hers, effectively trapping her between the two of them.

"By the way, Lily," James added, "You're not allowed to hold this against me because it was Sirius's idea."

"You're helping him!"

"That's not the point here!" They reached the register and Sirius paid for the three of them to play while James silenced her protests. Remus had been ahead of them in line and was waiting for them to join him so they could get their gear.

"I can't believe I'm doing this," Lily said, holding the bag of paint-filled balloons. She had donned the white jump suit already and was standing with Remus waiting for James and Sirius to come back from around the corner where they were planning their attacks.

"Actually, I'm kind of amazed as well," Remus replied. "But then, you are apparently just trying to surprise everybody this summer because I never thought you'd be getting along with Prongs either."

"That's another thing I can't believe," she admitted.

"Lily! You're not ready!" James exclaimed as he and Sirius returned.

"What are you talking about?" she asked.

"Your ammo bag! It goes around your waist! You don't hold it," he replied. He grabbed the bag from her and wrapped it around her waist before she could stop him and tied it on the side so the bag was on the other side, in easy reach of her arm. As he pulled his arms away he brushed up against her arm and shocked her.

"Ouch!"

"Sorry," he said grinning. "You can't hold that against me though! It wasn't my fault!"

"James, you say that every time you do something against our deal! That's cheating."

"Then why are you putting up with it?"

"Who says I am? Maybe I'm keeping track and intending to use it against you at the end of the summer," she said smartly.

"Now that would be cheating!" James whined. He didn't get to say more though because a paintball hit him in the back of the head, bursting and splattering Lily's face as well as James' hair. Sirius laughed and ducked behind Lupin, hiding from James' retaliation and making Remus the unfortunate target. Lily, on the other hand, snuck around behind Remus and Sirius while Sirius laughed and Remus tried to get James back. She pulled a balloon out of her bag and smashed it over Sirius's head. He whirled around, paint dripping into his face, and glared at Lily. James doubled over in laughter. Lily smiled cheekily and darted off, intending to lose him in the park.

The fight that followed this beginning was bloody, violent, and had them all laughing hysterically. Finally, they all came out into the open, covered in paint and tired, but happy. Remus sank down onto an old tire and tried to wipe some paint off his face with his paint-covered hands. Lily wandered over to him and watched James and Sirius approach. When they were a few feet away they both launched themselves at Lily and pinned her to the ground, she screamed as the attacked her but they both pulled out their last balloons and smashed them over her, effectively drenching her in even more paint. Then they started tickling her until she couldn't breath and she was begging them to stop. Finally they backed off and rolled over to lay next to her in the paint covered grass.

"You two are awful!" she exclaimed, breathing hard and clutching her sides.

"But you love us anyways!" Sirius said.

"Not a chance!"

"Oh come on Lily! You know you had a good time!" James said. She pursed her lips and refused to answer. Remus walked over and looked down at the three of them.

"Lily, I can't believe you have red hair. It looks more multi-colored to me," he commented.

"Everyone looks like that Remus," she said.

"No, there are still bits of our hair that isn't completely covered. You have nothing left resembling your actual hair color." He laughed. They pulled themselves up and left the park, ridding themselves of the not-so-white jump suits and returning them to the facility. It was pretty late in the evening now and they were getting hungry. Or, at least, the boys were. Sirius, being the cleanest of all of them since he was the best at avoiding shots, went into a small sub shop and came out with food for all of them. They went to a nearby park to eat. By the time they finished it was almost ten o clock.

"I love being of age!" Sirius said, stretching out on the grass and putting his hands behind his back.

"It is nice," Lily agreed.

"Makes traveling easy," James added.

"Which is good, because I'm rather tired," Remus said.

"Me too," Lily said.

"It's getting pretty late, isn't it?" Sirius asked.

"It's nearly ten," Lily replied.

"Should we get going then?" James asked. The others nodded and bid each other goodnight before disapperating, going home for the night.

Lily apperated outside the door of the flat in London, not wanting to go home and wake everyone, plus she didn't think her aunt would approve of her showing up covered in paint. She unlocked the door and entered quickly, locking the door behind her. She took a long, hot shower, making sure the water ran clear and she no longer had paint on her before getting out. She was having strange feelings and she didn't understand them. She had had way more fun today than she should have had with a boy whom she hated. Why was that? It wasn't possible that she could be warming up to him, was it?


	4. Another Summer Day

"Sometimes I get the feeling that she might just like me," James said to Sirius. They were outside his house in Godric's Hollow. He was sitting on the ground, leaning against the brick wall throwing a ball up into the air and letting it fall repeatedly, catching it each time. Sirius was trying to untie his shoe laces which James had knotted together while he slept last night.

"Really now? And what makes you think that?"

"Well, because, a lot of times, she's actually nice to me. She's hasn't been overly angry when I didn't do the work she asked me to do and she hasn't chewed me out for everything, or nothing."

"And this convinces you she likes you?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, it makes me wonder."

"James, what do you actually know about the girl?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean what does she want to do with her life? What is her family like? Who is she friends with? Do you know anything about her?"

"I know that she wants to be a healer, she has a mom who is nice, a dad who works a lot, and a sister who is getting married at the end of the summer. She's friends with everyone, us excluded, and she's the nicest person ever."

"James, I think you're missing my point." James sighed.

"I want to know what she's thinking about when she gets that far away expression on her face. I want to know who her prince charming is and I want to know what I can do to make her believe it's me."

"Well, a good place to start would be to stop acting like such a prat around her mate."

"What?! I don't act like that!"

"Oh really? So hexing girls is your way to turn them on?"

"Come on! That was a one time thing and you dared me to do it! I couldn't very well not do it!"

"Oh, right. I see." He was grinning stupidly and James threw the ball at him.

"Poor shot Prongs," he said, easily avoiding it.

"Shit happens. So how are you an Moony doing on your project?"

"I don't know. I guess I should find out but I'll give him till the full moon is over to start bothering him. The guy looked pretty worn out yesterday." James nodded in agreement. "So when do you see Lily again?"

"Today. Actually, she should be here pretty soon. We're going to work on transfiguring a mouse into a snuffbox."

"Can't you already do that?"

"Yes, but she says she still has troubles with it."

"Oh, right. I hope you're working inside though, it looks like rain." James looked up to see the dark clouds rolling in across the sky.

"It's true. It's been raining a lot this summer, don't you agree?"

"Yeah. Anyways, I'm going to meet Amanda for dinner tonight. We're going on a date."

"Amanda Welch?"

"That's the one."

"She's good friends with Lily."

"I know that but tell me, does every thought you have some how end with that girl?"

"No!" James replied hotly. "But most of them do," he conceded when Sirius looked at him.

Hey guys," Lily said, walking up to them. James jumped up.

"Hey Lily!" he said.

"Hi James. Ready for your date tonight Sirius?" she asked him slyly.

"Damn straight. Only I have to go change and leave," he replied. He walked into the house and disappeared.

"He lives here?" Lily asked.

"Yeah, he ran away from his family when he turned sixteen. My family took him in. My parents love him like a second son."

"That's really sweet of them," she said smiling. Then she stopped and thought about it. "It was also really brave of them," she added.

"Hey! We're not that bad!"

"Oh yes, I'm sure you're not. You live solely to annoy me and no one else. I'm sure I don't believe that."

"I don't annoy you!"

"How would you know that? Do you know what I'm thinking?"

"No, but I wish I did," he said softly, stepping closer to her. She stepped back, placing some distance between them.

"James, you made a deal," she warned.

"Sorry," he said, speaking normally again.

"It's alright. Let's get to work," she said. The first clap of thunder sounded across the sky. She looked up at the dark clouds. "It's been raining a lot this summer."

"Yeah. Sirius and I were just talking about that. Do you want to come inside and work? I wouldn't want you to get wet while we try and figure this out."

"Right," she said. She stepped past him through the door he was holding open.

"James? Dear? Is that you? Are you coming inside?" a woman's voice called from the depths of the house.

"Yeah mom. A friend of mine is over. We're going to work on some school work." A door slide open next to them and a man stuck his head out. He had the same messy black hair and round glasses that James did. Clearly, this was James' dad.

"You're doing school work?" he asked in disbelief. James flashed a cheeky grin at his father.

"Thanks dad, I'm glad you have so much faith in me."

"Well, it's just, I haven't actually seen you do school work before."

"Frankly, Mr. Potter," Lily said politely, "I haven't either."

"Ok," James said quickly, "that's enough from you." He placed a hand over Lily's mouth and turned her away from his dad to lead her up the stairs to his room before letting go. "Welcome to my room!" She looked around. The whole place was decked out in different posters of Quidditch teams. James' broom was lying on his unmade bed. His laundry clearly hadn't been put away anytime recently. There were baskets with clothing in and around them on the floor. His desk was littered with papers and books and sitting on the small window sill was a picture frame featuring a red-headed girl.

"James!" she exclaimed, walking over to it. "What are you doing with my picture in you room?"

His face turned a bright shade of red and he growled under his breath, "Sirius, I'm going to kill you." He shook his head and grabbed the picture off the window and held it up, instantly becoming his arrogant self. "I stole it from your bag last year," he responded, grinning. "Remember? We all had a lot of pictures from the photographer who came last year. Anyways, you refused to actually be in the frame until about two weeks ago."

"James! I can't believe you! You took my picture? What the hell?"

"What? Can't a guy want a pretty girl's picture in his room?"

"No!" she responded immediately. "Well, unless you have her permission! Which you didn't"

"Well now you know, so can I keep it?"

"Knowing and giving permission are different things," she pointed out. "But I guess, if I won't stay in the frame, you'd better keep it. It's a good reminder that I don't like you."

"Yeah, you've got that right," he muttered as he put the picture back in the window. Lily watched herself move out of the frame again and couldn't help but smile.

"Whatever, let's just work."

"Where do you want to start?"

"Um, let's see," she said, pulling out her notes.

"By the way, I'm not going to help you with the transfiguration. I know perfectly well that you can do it just fine even if you don't think you can," he added.

"Yeah, alright, fine. Let's go through everything and decide what we need to cover and in what order so that it makes sense when we teach it."

"Why don't we just follow your notes? From here it looks like you wrote down everything McGonagall said when she taught the lesson," he pointed out, grinning.

"We can't just copy the professor! That defeats the point."

"And who better to copy? I mean really, McGonagall pretty much covers it all. You know?"

"Yeah, right, but we have to be ready to explain things on our own as well. I mean, if she says we have to do it our own way or if someone needs extra help because the way we explained it didn't make sense, we have to be prepared for that."

"You think of everything," he said, amazed. "How do you think of everything?"

"I don't always think of everything. I just like being prepared."

"Uh huh," he said disbelievingly. "Sure."

"James, are you going to sit there making annoying comments or are you going to help me?"

"I'm helping," he said dejectedly. "Unless you like the annoying comments?" he added hopefully. She sighed and pulled her hair back away from her face.

"Start summarizing those notes," she said, giving him half the pages.

"There's like twenty pages of notes here!" he exclaimed.

"It's more like five, but whatever you say," she said, pulling out a fresh page of parchment and beginning to scratch her notes down on it.

"How come you have such good hand writing?" he asked after a minute.

"James! Would you work already? We're going to be here forever if you don't!"

"Would that be a bad thing?"

"MOM, DAD, I'M LEAVING!" Sirius bellowed through the house.

"He's not gone yet? I'm going to kill him!" James yelled, jumping up and running for the stairs. Lily followed quickly and reached the staircase in enough time to see James tackle Sirius at the bottom of the staircase, by the door. "What the hell were you thinking?" he said, as he knocked Sirius over.

"Oof," Sirius said, crashing to the floor. "What are you on about Prongs?"

"I think you know," James replied. Sirius grinned.

"I haven't the faintest idea. Why don't you tell me?" James punched him in the stomach, knocking the air out of him but not doing any real damage. "Come on Jamesy, you hit like a girl," he taunted, his eyes twinkling in amusement.

"Sirius, you are lucky mom is here right now, otherwise I'd kill you."

"Yes, I'm sure you're not doing so because mom is here. Are you sure it's not because there's a certain girl standing at the top of the stairs?" James started laughing then. He let go of Sirius and the two of them sat on the floor at the bottom of the stairs and laughed. Lily watched in amusement at the scene below her. Mrs. Potter appeared from the depths of the house to see what the noise was all about. She just smiled when she saw the boys.

"Would you two get up? Sirius, you are going to be late. You're not allowed to be late for the date. That's the girl's job," she said kindly. They nodded and stood slowly, still laughing, but softly now. Sirius disapparated on the doorstep and Mrs. Potter closed the door behind him. "James don't you have company?" his mother reminded him, looking up the stairs at Lily.

"Oh yeah," he said. "Let's go work Lily," he said, running back up the stairs. They vanished into his room again.

"I like her," Mr. Potter said, coming out of his office. Mrs. Potter smiled and went back to the kitchen.


	5. Allnighters and morning afters

Lily and James continued piecing together their project throughout the month of July and as they did that they found that they were also piecing together a growing friendship that was, for James, a blessing. He'd always wanted to see the day when Lily actually didn't think he was an arrogant fool. Lily, on the other hand, was still unsure how she felt about it. How could she possibly be friends' with James? She was supposed to hate him.

"It's just so weird Ruth," she told her friend one day towards the end of July. Ruth's head was sitting in her fire at her flat in London.

"I think you've said that three times now," Ruth pointed out. Lily laughed.

"I'm sorry, it's just, I don't know what I'm doing. I mean, I don't know how to be friends with him."

"Lily, you're friends with everybody. Why is it such a huge deal?"

"Because this is James Potter! I've hated him for so long."

"Well, then I suggest you get over that. You clearly like him a lot."

"What makes you think that?"

"We aren't having this conversation for my health Lily." Lily smiled.

"Yeah, I guess so. I guess I do like him. He's really sweet Ruth. I just don't understand why he was always so mean to me during school."

"Hey Lily, since it's against my morals to lie to you and agree with that statement, just let me tell you that he was never mean. He teased you endlessly because he knew it would get to you. Now, the funny part was that you consistently let him get to you. Honestly Lily, you have never let anyone get to you like you do James Potter."

"I-" she started to reply. She was stopped when someone knocked on the door. "I have to go. He just got here."

"Isn't it a bit late?" she asked in a mock suggestive tone. Then she laughed. "I'll see you tomorrow then, when we all get together."

"Yeah, we're meeting here at nine?"

"Yeah. Now go." She vanished from the fire. Lily stood to answer the door as James knocked again. "Sorry," she said, smiling as she opened the door for him. There was something wrong with how happy she felt at seeing him standing on her doorstep. She moved aside to let him in, still thinking about what Ruth had said to her.

"Hi Lily," he said as he walked passed her. He set his bag down on the counter in the kitchen and turned to watch her close the door.

"How are you James?"

"I'm doing just fine. And you?"

"I'm good," she said, moving into the small living room. She pulled together her transfiguration homework, which had taken over the coffee table, and piled it into her school bag.

"You still haven't finished the homework? Is this a record for you?" he asked jokingly.

"Yes, it is actually. I'm always done with homework by this time in the summer but that transfiguration stuff is still giving me problems."

"And you're sure you don't want any help?"

"James, what good would your help be? Do you even know what the homework is yet? You don't actually have to answer that question because I know you don't. You will probably start it the night before classes."

"Not even! Mum makes me do the schoolwork a week before I go back! Sirius too! Which is why Moony and Wormtail always come and stay with us!" He couldn't help grinning at her as she shook her head.

"You Marauder's are hopeless. Do you know that?"

"I tend to think of us as gifted, but everyone is entitled to their own opinion I guess." She laughed and pulled out the work for their presentation.

"Come on. Let's do some of this work. If I can't do the transfiguration homework at least I can show Professor McGonagall that I did some work this summer." He grabbed his bag and joined her on the floor by the couch. They pulled out their things and began elaborating on the notes they had written last time, trying to put everything together in a cohesive order so that it would make sense to a twelve-year-old and still adequately cover the topic. This took them a lot longer than they had anticipated and they discovered that it was much harder to be a teacher than it looked. Around midnight they were still working away at it, taking turns scratching out research and changing ideas.

"No, James, we can't put those two pieces together on the same day. That doesn't make any sense. It's to much and we won't finish in the class time," Lily said to him, stifling a yawn.

"I see your point but just covering the history and workings of the spell in one period will be drop dead boring. Everyone will be asleep," he replied, leaning his head back against the couch.

"Not if we present it in an interesting manner."

"How do you suppose we do that?"

"I don't know yet, but I'm sure we can think of something. Here, let's put this part away for now. Let's start outlining the paper we have to write to go with this."

"Paper? What paper?"

"James! We have to write a paper on why we chose to do things the way we did and what we learned from this experience. We're also supposed to evaluate our partners and explain what it was like working with them and how each person was an asset to the project." James groaned and ran his hands through his hair for the thousandth time, making it stand on end even more than usual.

"This work load isn't getting an smaller!" he exclaimed. "We've done so much already and all we're doing is looking at more work!"

"That's why I suggested starting early!" Lily pointed out.

"Yeah, I'm starting to think you might have been right." They dived into the work again and kept shooting ideas back and forth, this time in relation to the outline for the paper.

By the time two o'clock rolled around Lily's eyes were slamming shut and James kept dozing off, leaning against the couch, neither was very coherent.

Lily woke up to a loud pounding on her front door. She was so groggy she was having difficulties figuring out what the sound was at first. Her head cleared a little as she felt something move underneath her. She opened her eyes and found herself looking at a sleepy and confused James. She was lying on his chest with one of his arms around her and his other entwined with hers.

" What the-" James started to say sleepily, looking at Lily in confusion. He moved his arm to sweep away several strands of Lily's hair out of his face.

"Lily, we're coming in!" someone yelled from outside. She heard the lock click and the door open.

"Lily," she recognized Laura's voice. "I can't believe you are still asleep," she began, walking into the living room to go through to the hallway in back that led to her bedroom. She stopped dead when she saw Lily and James on the floor together. Cara walked into her, not expecting her abrupt halt.

"What are you do-" she started to say to Laura but stopped when she saw Lily and James. "Oh my God." James sat up slowly, bringing Lily up with him. She smiled guiltily at her friends before disentangling her legs from James' and standing up.

"I'm so sorry, girls," she said. "I think we both kind of dozed off last night." Ruth, who was now standing behind Laura with Amanda as well, couldn't stop smirking.

"Sorry Lily. I didn't mean to fall asleep on you last night," James said apologetically.

"I think it was the other way around actually," Laura said.

"Sort of," Ruth pointed out.

"Ok, ok, enough," Lily said. "I'm going to get changed before this situation gets worse." She walked down the hallway and disappeared into her small bedroom.

"So, James," Laura said. "Were you two working all night?"

"Well, until about two I think. God, I can't believe I fell asleep! I'm never going to hear the end of this one!" he said. However, there was no way he was going to be able to keep the ridiculous grin off his face. "I'm gonna get out of here. I should be getting home, mum and dad will be wondering where I am. So will Padfoot." He groaned at thought before disapperating.

Lily reentered the living room twenty minutes later, towel drying her hair. Her friends were sitting on the couch, waiting for her.

"I think you have some explaining to do, missy," Ruth said. Lily grinned.

"Oops," was all she said. Everyone burst into laughter.

"Come on, though. What happened?" Amanda asked as they settled down again.

"Honestly? We were working really hard. I don't actually remember falling asleep."

"So I'm guessing you're going to tell us that you don't remember how you ended up so completely entangled with him?" Laura asked.

"Yeah, pretty much." She grinned. "Come on, let's go." They left the flat together and headed into London, taking the tube into the heart of city for a day of shopping, gossiping, and fun.

"James, where have you been?" his mother asked as he walked through the door.

"Sorry, mum, Lily and I pulled an all-nighter. This project is huge. There's so much to do." His mother smiled at him.

"Are you glad she's making you work on it before the last week of summer?"

"Yeah. We'd never have finished." He stretched and yawned. "I'm going to get some sleep. I'm exhausted."

"Alright. Just don't sleep all day or you'll never sleep tonight."

"I promise mum." He climbed the stairs and shut himself away in his bedroom. He rid himself of his shirt and fell on the bed, not bothering to use the blankets.

Twenty minutes later Sirius crept through the door, an evil grin plastered to his face. He snuck over to James' bed.

"Whatever you're about to do, Padfoot, I'd advise against it. I'm still awake," James said, not turning over. The grin on Sirius' face disappeared.

"Man, Prongs, you're no fun. You should be out. I hear you had a busy night last night," he said suggestively.

"I promise you that nothing you are thinking about happened," he said turning over to look at Sirius, a serious expression on his face. Then a grin took hold and he added, "unfortunately." Sirius laughed and launched himself towards the bed, landing beside James. He locked his fingers behind his head and lay back against the pillows.

"So talk. What happened?"

"We honestly just worked. Sirius, you and Moony really ought to start that project, it's huge."

"We have been working on it. I know it's huge. But don't change the topic. Why did you come back looking like you'd just woke up?"

"We fell asleep."

"Together?"

"Yes."

"How cute. Were you all wrapped up in each other's arms?" he asked sarcastically.

"Yes."

"What?!" Sirius sat up to look at James.

"I know," he replied, grinning like an idiot.

"Damn James. That's progress." They both laughed and lay back against the pillows again.

"How is Wormtail doing with old Snivelly on their project?"

"I couldn't say. He never says much any more."

"Yeah, I've noticed that. It's kind of odd. He used to never shut up around you."

"I know. I can't say I mind that much. It got kind of annoying when I was trying to hit on girls." James laughed and shook his head. He didn't let it bother him though. Life was too good at the moment.

(A/N: Hi everyone!! Sorry I haven't put one of these author's note's in here sooner, I jeep forgetting. I'm so glad you are all enjoying this story so much! I really like the reviews I'm getting. They've been very helpful. I just think I should add that when James and Sirius were fighting last chapter, they were totally just messing around. I don't believe my writing conveyed that very well, sorry, I posted that without checking with my fabulous editor. I'm posting this one without checking with her again, but I'm sure she'll forgive me. Lol. Anyways, keep reading and reviewing, things are going to get interesting in and other chapter of two! Au Revior!)


	6. Weddings and Stress Relievers

"LILY!" someone screeched loudly from the bottom of the stairs. Lily ran out of her bedroom, pulling her hair into a ponytail as she did so.

"What Petunia?"

"I have some invitations for you to give to your friends."

"I thought you weren't giving me those. Petunia, the wedding is in two days!"

"I am well aware of that fact. I have seven invitations for you."

"I told you I only needed four."

"You and your freaky friends are getting your own table. There are eight spots at a table so you'd better fill them up!" Petunia hissed. Mrs. Evans walked into the room.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"Lily is complaining about inviting people to my wedding."

"Petunia! You are giving me the invitations now. How am I supposed to get seven people to your wedding in five days?"

"Petunia, I asked you to give those invitations to Lily three weeks ago," Mrs. Evans said.

"I forgot. I had more important things to do." She dropped the invitations and stalked out of the room.

"Mom," Lily complained, bending to pick up the invitations.

"Lily, can you just ask some friends to come?"

"Yes, I can, but it's not right."

"I know. It's almost over though. She'll be gone in a week."

"Yeah, I know." Her mom smiled at her and changed the subject.

"So what are you doing today?"

"I was going to meet a few girls from school. They sent me an owl last week wanting to get together."

"Oh, that will be nice. It's not Cara and them, is it?"

"No, these girls are mostly from Hufflepuff." A loud scream had both their attentions turned towards the sitting room.

"Petunia! What is it darling?" Mrs. Evans asked, rushing to her daughter's side. Lily, however, moved to the window to let the large owl there in. She untied the letter from its leg and let it go again.

"What the hell is wrong with your people?" Petunia barked. "Why can't they use normal mail like us?"

"Petunia, honey, there's no reason to be mean. It's not Lily's fault."

"Whatever," she said and left. Lily opened the letter. It was from Hogwarts. There was the usual information on the train, a list of schoolbooks she needed, a note reminding her that she would have to present the summer project, and, lastly, a handwritten note from Professor Dumbledore.

_Lily,_

_I would like to inform you that this year, I have selected you to be the head girl of Hogwarts. Please meet me on the train in the head's compartment to discuss your duties this year as well as meet the head boy. Thank you._

_A. Dumbledore._

She looked at the badge that had fallen out of the envelope and looked up at her mom.

"Mom, I made head girl!" she said excitedly, showing her mother the letter and the badge. Mrs. Evans looked at them smiling.

"Congratulations honey!" her mom said, giving her a big hug. "We're so proud of you! I've got to go call your father and tell him!" She hurried off to call Mr. Evans.

"Ok," Lily said to herself. "I need to get these invitations out." She glanced at the old grandfather clock in the corner. It read nine thirty. She was supposed to meet the girls at noon. She yelled good bye to her mom and disapparated, appearing outside of Amanda's house.

"Hi Lily," Amanda said, opening the door.

"Hey. Listen, my sister finally gave me the invitations for her wedding for you girls."

"Ok. We were already planning on going. Why are you on my doorstep?"

"Because I now have to invite seven people instead of four. Who the hell am I supposed to bring?"

"You need to invite three people?"

"Yeah."

"I can think of three Marauders who might be up to coming," she said, grinning.

"I can't invite them! Why would I invite them?"

"Oh come on. Don't lie. The only reason you are standing here is because they were the first people you thought of and you want to make sure that it wouldn't be strange." Lily grinned. Of course her friend saw right through her.

"I don't know though, wouldn't it be a little odd?"

"Invite the boys to the damn wedding," Ruth yelled in the background. Amanda grinned at Lily and threw open the door to reveal Ruth. "If worse comes to worse they'll pull some dumb prank that will make her look like a fool which is exactly what she deserves. Now, you are wasting time here."

"Ruth, what would I do without you?"

"What would any of you do without me? This one over here," she said, pointed her finger at Amanda, "is asking me weather or not she was right to sleep with Black."

"You what?" Lily exclaimed as Amanda turned bright red.

"Oops," Amanda replied.

"Oh come on. How did that one happen?"

"Um, last night we were out together. He walked me home afterwards and, I don't know. You both that kid can turn any girl into jell-o."

"Yes, but, enough so that you would sleep with him?"

"Apparently."

"Hey, Lily, I think you've got to stop talking. You did, after all, sleep with Potter," Ruth pointed out. Now it was Lily's turn to turn red.

"I didn't sleep with Potter. I just slept with him," she defended lamely. Ruth looked her two friends and burst out laughing. They looked at her for a minute and then joined in.

"Now, go invite them to the wedding. Amanda would love it if Black was there." Lily, while still trying to catch her breath, nodded and disapparated.

James and Sirius raced for the door to answer it. Sirius got there first and shoved James away from him so he could pull the door open.

"Lily!" he said in surprise.

"Lily?" James asked, appearing behind Sirius, rubbing his shoulder where he'd hit the stair banister when Sirius pushed him.

"Hey guys," she said.

"What can we do for you?" Sirius asked.

"I saw Amanda this morning," she said.

"Yeah? I saw her last night," he replied.

"I am aware of that."

"I wasn't!" James said, feigning hurt. A second later understanding passed across his face. "You were gone all night Padfoot."

"It's true. That I was," Sirius said, putting his hands in his pockets and leaning against the doorframe. "So Lily, do you have a purpose for being here other than to divulge my sex life to my buddy over there?" Lily laughed.

"Yes, I do actually. My sister is getting married."

"Oh?"

"Yes. I'm here because I thought I'd invite you to the wedding."

"You can invite people to other peoples weddings?" Sirius asked, grinning.

"Well, I'm supposed to invite seven people."

"Why seven?"

"To fill a table or something stupid like that."

"Oh."

"Yeah, so do you two and Remus want to go?"

"Well, I don't know about Prongs and Moony but I'm in," Sirius replied.

"Me too!" James said. She handed the both invitations.

"Here, give this to Remus when you see him next," she added, handing the last invitation to James.

"Why don't you ask him yourself?" Sirius said. "He's standing right behind you." She turned in surprise to find that he was indeed standing there.

"Remus!" she said happily. "How are you?"

"I'm fine. And I'd love to go to your sister's wedding."

"Great! I've got to go. I'll see you three there." She turned to walk down the steps.

"Hey Lily!" James called after her. She stopped and looked back.

"Yeah?"

"Will you be my date?"

"No, of course not!" she replied automatically. She disapparated before anyone could say anything else.

The rest of the week flew by in a rush of final wedding details, Petunia's crazed episodes, and high stress levels for Lily. She busied herself with helping her mother in any way she could. Her father was sent on errand after errand to pick up last minute things. Then evening before the wedding Petunia went to bed early declaring that she needed her beauty sleep. Lily's mom retired soon afterwards, completely worn out by the events of the week. Lily and her father collapsed onto the couch together in front of the T.V. Not two minutes later they heard a soft noise outside the window. Mr. Evans looked up at the window.

"I promise you that owl is not for me," he said softly to his daughter. She groaned and sat up to look at the owl. She recognized at once as James' owl having seen it outside her window several times this summer. She got up to let the owl inside. It dropped its letter at her feet and flew off into the night again. The letter was short and it was written in James' hasty, cramped writing.

_I'm outside._

She looked up puzzled but she couldn't see him.

"Dad, I'll be right back." He waved his hand in confirmation but didn't look up from the couch. She opened the front door carefully and snuck out quietly. She stood on the porch peering out into the darkness of the front yard looking for James.

"Boo," someone said behind her. She jumped in fright and turned quickly to face James.

"Oh my God, James, what are you doing here?"

"Well, I haven't heard from you in a week and I know that, with getting ready for the wedding and what not, you must be pretty stressed out. I thought I would offer you my company as relief."

"James, that's the stupidest excuse I've ever heard of. You promised you weren't going to use my address to make social calls!"

"This isn't a social call. This is m worrying about your well-being," he replied innocently.

"Right, and I was born yesterday," she said sarcastically. He grinned.

"Come with me."

"What? Where?" she asked quickly. He didn't answer he grabbed her hand and dragged her off the porch into the darkness of the yard.

"I thought I'd help you relieve some of your stress."

"And how are you going to do that?"

"The same way I relieve my stress." He held out his broomstick.

"No way! I hate brooms. I don't fly!" she said, backing away.

"Come on Lily! It'll be fun! I promise!"

"I don't think so. I'm much safer on the ground."

"Don't you trust me?"

"On that thing? No, I've seen you play Quiddich to many times."

"This isn't Quiddich! It's just for fun. I promise, we'll stay low to the ground and we won't go fast. You'll like it."

"No. I won't. Jared took me up on one of those once and he nearly crashed into a tree when he lost control. I'm not getting on one again."

"Oh please Lily! Most people don't lose control of them. Plus, Jared probably wouldn't have either but Sirius and I were kind of hiding and we might have sort of put a small jinx on him. Maybe." He cringed, anticipating Lily's anger.

"YOU WHAT? JAMES I WAS ON THERE TOO!!!! YOU ALMOST GOT US KILLED!!!!"

"No way! We got you to Madam Pomfrey in plenty of time." She just glared at him. "Anyways, so as you can see, there is no real danger so let's go!" He didn't wait for her to tell him no again. He took off from the ground and grabbed her around the waist, pulling her up easily with him as he raised the broom above the house. She yelled and threw her arms around his neck, clinging tight to him and burying her head in his shoulder.

"We're too high!" she exclaimed. He laughed at her fear and swung the broom around to take them away from her aunt's house. "James!"

"You're fine Lily! Just trust me!"

"I already told you I don't."

"Well I suggest you figure that one out soon. I'm perfectly trustworthy! Come on Lily, there's nothing to be afraid of. Look down." As if against her own will she opened her eyes and raised her head slowly from James' shoulder. She gasped as she saw the ground far below her. The tiny dots of lights were developments were looked so small from their height. She looked up at the endless sky above and around them in wonder. It was beautiful.

"Oh my God, James," she whispered in wonder.

"Isn't it gorgeous?" he asked softly, keeping one arm tightly wrapped around her and the other on the broom. He came to a stop in midair and hovered there.

"Yes," she breathed.

"Sirius and I find this the most relaxing thing to do."

"Don't get me wrong, I'm still pissed you almost killed Jared and I," she reminded him shortly. Then she smiled at the beauty surrounding her. "But I guess I'm glad you made me come."

"Do you trust me now?"

"Not a chance in hell."

(A/N: Sorry, this took me a while to write, finals were a bit time-consuming. Anyways, I'm off for the holidays and my fabulous editor is now back in state with me so I'll get some new ideas written and posted before to long! Hope you enjoy!!)


	7. The First Date

The owl soared through the open window and landed softly on the kitchen table where Lily and her friends were sitting drinking tea and talking. There was only two weeks left until the start of term and the girls were going to Diagon Alley in the morning to go shopping for the new term. They all looked up at the arrival of the owl.

"That's James' owl," Lily said in surprise.

"What's it doing here?" Laura asked.

"It's clearly delivering a letter," Ruth said as she untied the letter from the owl's leg and handed it to Lily. The bird didn't leave immediately, instead it pecked at Lily's sleeve until she opened the letter.

"Wow, the bird is as annoying as Potter can be," Lily said grinning. She unfolded the letter and read it through quickly.

_Lily,_

_I think you'll have to admit that I've held up my end of the bargain quite well and now that leaves you to fulfill your end of it. I believe you agreed to go on a date with me before the summer is over. Therefore, I will meet you in the Leaky Cauldron tomorrow at eight o'clock. Make sure you look nice. I promise tomorrow will be special._

_James_

"He acts as though I agreed because I wanted to and not because I wanted him to cooperate this summer. That boy needs to get his facts straight," Lily complained.

"He's never going to get anything straight concerning you," Amanda pointed out. "Better just to amuse him and go on the date."

"Whatever, you want me to go out with him. You all do," Lily accused them. They all grinned.

"Ok, so maybe it's true," Cara admitted. "But only because we know there is something between the two of you!"

"What are you talking about?" Lily asked in shock. "There is nothing between James and I."

"Of course not Lily," Ruth said quickly, grinning at her own lie. "You keep telling yourself that."

"Oh, you girls are impossible!" she exclaimed.

"Come on Lily!" Amanda said. "We all saw how you two were looking at each other at the wedding."

"What are you talking about?"

"Don't take us for fools, Lily," Laura added. "You two couldn't keep your eyes off each other."

"That's not true!"

"Sure it is," Ruth added. "Admit it Lily, you thought he looked hot at your sister's wedding." Lily blushed and looked down.

"Ok, maybe, but that doesn't mean anything!"

"Oh sure, it doesn't mean anything at all, with the exception of the fact that you might like him."

"I don't like him!" she insisted.

"Ok Lily," Ruth said. "Let's go to bed instead of arguing about this." The other girls agreed and they all went upstairs to crash in Laura's room since she lived closest to Diagon Alley.

The next morning the girls woke early to begin their day of shopping for schoolbooks and supplies. Lily, since she had to meet James afterwards for the infamous date, wore a nice green top and black skirt. She put her hair supplies and makeup in her bag so she could get ready in the Leaky Cauldron before she met James. They were ready to leave the house before nine in the morning and they arrived, still rubbing sleep from their eyes, in Diagon Alley ready to start shopping.

By seven thirty the girls were walking towards the Leaky Cauldron carrying their purchases from the day.

"Lily, with all the classes you're taking this year, how are you supposed to perform the Head Girl's duties?" Laura asked, eyeing the large bag of textbooks Lily was holding.

"Oh, I'll be alright. I'm sure I can manage," she replied. She turned to look at her friend and the minute she looked away she walked straight into someone else. Someone else carrying a very large milkshake.

"Sirius!" she cried out in alarm as his milkshake was transferred from his cup to her shirt. He looked up in surprise.

"Lily! I'm so sorry," he said genuinely.

"No, it's alright," she said quickly. She looked at her friends in horror. "I'm supposed to meet James at eight. There's no time to change!"

"It's alright Lily, we'll figure something out!" Cara said quickly. "Don't panic." Cara and Amanda rushed her off to the Leaky Cauldron to clean up the milkshake that had gotten everywhere when Sirius spilled it.

"That was sly, Sirius," Ruth said, grinning at him.

"Well, James was right, he can't take her clubbing in that outfit," he replied with a shrug.

"Yeah, well if James had bothered to tell her where he was taking her she could have dressed more appropriately," Amanda pointed out.

"And if James had told her that she'd be half way to Switzerland right now trying to avoid him," Sirius said. Ruth pulled out the spare clothes she'd been carrying around since she'd stolen them from Lily's closet last night on James' orders.

"Not likely, but whatever, we have to go help her get changed now Sirius. If she ever finds out that you and James used us against her like this," Ruth warned him. He laughed and stuck his hands in his pockets.

"I think you need to be more worried if she ever finds out you agreed," he said casually. Amanda smiled sweetly at him before following Ruth into the Leaky Cauldron to help Lily.

"I'm not wearing that tonight!" Lily exclaimed as Ruth held up the outfit she'd 'found' for Lily.

"Ok, then wear the milkshake stained shirt," she said bluntly, tossing the outfit back into her bag. "You don't have time to apparate home and get something different, it's five minutes to eight."

"Oh crap," Lily muttered to herself. Amanda and Cara had finished washing the milkshake out of her hair and were now making sure that it was dry and curled so it looked natural. Laura was pulling out makeup for Lily and Lily herself was uselessly trying to get the stains out of her shirt. "Fine, give it here. I'm going to look like a slut though."

"Don't be silly, you'll look fine," Cara said, finishing drying her hair and grabbing a brush to comb it up and out of Lily's face. Laura opened an eye shadow and told Lily to close her eyes. The bathroom they had taken refuge in looked as though a small hurricane had hit it. There was water, makeup and milkshake everywhere. Once her friends finished her hair and makeup Lily disappeared into one of the stalls to change.

"Yup, I look like a slut," she said, reemerging a minute later. She was wearing dark, low-rise jeans and an off-the-shoulder navy blue top that was accented along the edges in silver and didn't quite reach the top of her jeans. She looked at her muggle watch and sighed. She was ten minutes late already.

"Lily, you do not look like a slut," Ruth said forcefully. "You look hot."

"Here, wear this," Laura said, unclasping a silver necklace she was wearing and placing it around Lily's neck instead.

"I have to go, I'm late," she said walking towards the door. "But girls, tomorrow, you will explain how you all happened to have the perfect replacements for me when Sirius 'accidentally' ran into me." She left the bathroom quickly.

"Oops," Cara said as she left. The four girls burst into laughter and started cleaning up their mess.

James was waiting outside of the Leaky Cauldron in the back, by the trashcans where the entrance to Diagon Alley was. He looked hot, Lily couldn't even try to deny it. He was wearing dark wash jeans and a black top that let her see just how much Quidditch practice was paying off for him. His hair was falling all over the place, making him look like he just got off a broomstick, as usual, but tonight, for some reason, it only added to his look. His jaw dropped when he saw Lily appear in the doorway. Her two-inch heels added a little to her height but still didn't bring her close to his. She smiled when she saw him and carefully approached, aware of the loud click her heels made as she walked.

James collected himself again before he started drooling and flashed his famous grin at her.

"You look fantastic," he said, unable to lie. She shook her head, trying to hide her face with her hair only to remember that Cara had pinned it as best she could away from her face.

"Thank you," she said softly. "You look good too."

"Oh I'm sure I look more then good," James replied with his usual arrogant attitude. "I looked in the mirror tonight." She grinned and hit him playfully in the arm.

"I'm not going to listen to you go on about yourself tonight," she said. He grinned and slung his arm over her shoulder.

"Alright fine. I'm going to have the hottest date in the house tonight," he said, leading her back through the Leaky Cauldron and out into muggle London.

"Where are we going?" she asked curiously.

"There's no way I'm telling you that before hand," he said smirking.

"Just promise me we won't be doing anything stupid or unusual," she said.

"Unusual for you or for me?" he replied.

"For you," she said, conceding that she might have to try something a little new to herself.

"Then I promise."

"Good." He led her to the nearest tube entrance and they jumped onto a train taking them into the heart of London. They walked a few blocks over to a section of town away from the touristy parts of London. He led Lily towards a small set of stairs that led to an underground doorway. She could hear the music before the door opened. "We're going clubbing?" she asked incredulously.

"Yeah. It'll be fun!" He said, stopping on the stairs to look at her.

"I think it will be actually. I've always wanted go, I've just never gotten up the nerve."

"Well then, I'm honored to take you your first time," he said, grinning. He offered her his hand and they walked down the rest of the steps. James paid for them to get in and, once they had their hands marked to pin them as being underage, they entered the club. The place wasn't very crowded. There were a few people on the floor dancing. Lily looked around excitedly. It was fairly small, there were a few couches and chairs upstairs that a couple was taking advantage of in order to make out. She looked at the dance floor, filled with colorful lights that flashed and spun across the dancers. "This place will get really crowded in another half an hour or so," James said over the loud music. "It's a lot of fun." She smiled up at him. This was not what she was expecting James to do for a date. "Wanna dance?" he asked casually. This was the only part she'd been dreading. Could she possibly be comfortable dancing so closely with James?

"Sure," she said carefully. He led her onto the dance floor taking her towards the back.

"Relax," he said softly as he stepped closer to her. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She wasn't going to let her nerves get in the way of her having a good time.

Half an hour later they were still dancing and, as James had said, the place was starting to fill up with more and more people. The dance floor got crowded and pretty soon she was, if possible, forced even closer to James as other people dancing tried to get space to move. James' hands were wrapped tightly around her waist, keeping her close to him as they moved with the music. She had one of her hands wrapped around his neck as she moved with him. One song faded into the next, she found it hard to tell the difference. She was wrapped up in the moment with James. The room was getting hotter as more and more people entered and she could feel sweat on the back of her neck and her forehead. James' hair was wet and was falling in his face and Lily couldn't help but think how sexy he looked as he gazed down at her.

Soon they were both exhausted and they stumbled through the tangle of people on the floor and made their way towards a small back door that led to a walled in outdoor area. It was much cooler out here and Lily felt the relief as the cool air hit the back of her neck and face. She was flushed from so much dancing but she couldn't get a smile off her face.

"Having fun?" James asked, moving close to her. She nodded.

"Definitely. This was a great idea!" she said enthusiastically. James made a mental note to thank Ruth graciously for the tip off that Lily would like this. "Do you come here a lot?" she asked.

"I've been here a few times before," he said, leaning against the wall and putting his hands in his pockets. "You're a great dancer, you know," he added.

"Thanks, you're not to bad yourself," she replied, hoping the darkness would hide her blush.

"Good to hear." They stayed outside for a while longer but soon they went back in, if only to avoid the many people smoking out there. James pulled her back onto the dance floor and wrapped his arm precariously low around her waist. She could feel his warm fingers on her flesh where her shirt wasn't quiet touching her jeans. She stepped closer to him and placed her arms over his shoulders, her face was inches from his as they started dancing again. She felt her heartbeat accelerate again as the music swept her away once more.

They left the club a little before one in the morning. They were both completely exhausted and yet they didn't want to leave each other. They walked slowly back towards the entrance to the underground, James had his arm wrapped around her arms so as to keep off some of the night chill since neither of them had brought a jacket. The temperature had decreased quite a bit since they'd last gone outside and the wind had picked up.

"I think it's going to rain," Lily said, as they reached the entrance to the tube.

"You might be right," James agreed, looking up at the sky. "Should we just apparate back home?"

"No, where's the fun in that?" Lily replied, grinning. They jumped on one of the last trains for the night and got off at a stop a few blocks away from Lily's flat in London. When they reached the top of the stairs they realized it was pouring. James grabbed Lily's hand and they ran as quickly as they could the last few blocks to Lily's house. The thunder was obnoxiously loud and the lightning was extremely bright. They reached her door and Lily pulled out her keys, fumbling with them in her wet hands to find the right one. "Come inside," she said to James as she opened the door. He followed her in and closed the door behind them. They were both soaking wet. Lily set her keys down on the counter and flipped on a light switch. Nothing happened. "Shit," she said, pulling out her wand.

"What?"

"The power must be out." James laughed and lit his own wand as well.

"This is such a muggle house," he said.

"Yes, and muggles live here too," she pointed out, laughing. She pulled out some candles from under the sink and a book of matches. James lit the candles while Lily disappeared into the flat to find more. She came back with several more and a towel, which she threw to James.

"Thanks," he said, drying himself off while he watched her light the rest of the candles and extinguish her wand. "Will you be ok here by yourself?" he asked.

"Of course. I've spent quite a lot of time here by myself this summer already."

"I know that, but the power is out. You have no way to get help if something happens."

"James," Lily said patiently. "I'm a witch."

"Oh, yeah," he replied, grinning. He wrapped the towel around her shoulders to try and warm her up.

"Thanks." She looked at his wet clothing. "James, do you want something dry to change into?"

"No, I'm fine. I'll just apparate back home."

"Ok," she said. He sat down at the small kitchen table and looked at her.

"I'm glad you had a good time tonight," he said.

"Me too."

"So are you telling me that you'd like a second date?" he asked, grinning at her.

"James, you are so strange," she said. She started walking towards the door to lock it for the night. As she passed the table she tripped on an umbrella lying on the ground. Her wet heels gave out underneath her and she fell awkwardly sideways. She didn't fall to the ground though. She fell into James' lap. His strong arms were instantly at her waist, making sure she was balanced. She gasped as she landed and couldn't help spinning her head around to look at James. She found his face closer than she'd anticipated and her nose brushed past his as she looked at him. "Sorry," she gasped quickly.

"It's alright," he whispered, looking softly into her eyes. She felt her heart beating hard in her chest and her breath caught in her throat. She blinked and looked away, standing quickly, breaking his loose hold around her waist. He stood as well, not making direct eye contact with her. He cleared his throat and said, "I should go. It's late and my mother will worry with this storm outside. Lily nodded and said goodbye. He disapparated with a small pop and left her alone in the kitchen with a small smile on her face.


	8. Common Sense, or Lack Thereof

A week before school started James knocked on the door of Lily's house.

"Ah, hello James," Mr. Evans said as he opened the door.

"Hi Mr. Evans," James said, stepping inside. "How are you?"

"I'm doing well, thank you James, how are you?"

"I'm good."

"Ready for school yet?" James grinned at him.

"Of course not," he responded.

"Yes, of course, I remember being your age."

"Yes daddy, we know," Lily said walking into the living room wearing sweatpants and a tee shirt and holding a tissue in her hand. Her nose was bright red and her eyes were watering and her voice gave her away as being sick. "You had to walk uphill to school for nine miles both ways." She smiled at her father and rolled her eyes at James.

"Yes but we were smart enough to change out of our wet clothing before we fell asleep at night," her father said laughing. He turned to James and shook his head. "My daughter may be the top of your class but she lacks quite a bit of common sense."

"You're sick?" James asked incredulously. Lily's coughing fit was enough to answer that question.

"She came home with a fever after she went out with you last week," Mr. Evans explained. "Actually, she should still be in bed, but keeping her there is like trying to teach a penguin to fly."

"I'm sorry sir, I should have made sure she was alright before I left," James said, looking down at his feet.

"James, my dear boy, surely you've realized by now that Lily is as stubborn as a mule." James grinned at Mr. Evans.

"Thanks dad," Lily said sarcastically. "I have to do homework now. James, let's go upstairs," she said and then sneezed into the tissue several times.

"Uh, are you sure? Don't you want to rest?" James asked. Mr. Evans sighed and smiled at his daughter before leaving the room, shaking his head on the way out.

"No, no, I'm fine," she replied quickly. We'll just go upstairs and finish up the paper. I really just want to get it done."

"Ok," he said slowly, following her up the stairs. "I agree but aren't you being a little ridiculous? And by the way, weren't you assuring me before I left that you were a witch and would therefore be fine if I left?" he said patronizingly. She turned and smirked at him.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," she said. "I know. I was just tired and so I fell asleep on the couch."

"In your soaking wet clothing," James pointed out.

"Yes, in my wet clothing. Can we move on to another subject now?" She dissolved into another coughing fit and sank onto her bed. James leaned against the doorframe and watched her. "What do you want?"

"I want you to promise me that next time you'll let me make sure you're ok before I leave."

"I'm not promising you that, James. Get over it. Let's finish writing this paper." James smirked at her and sat down next to her on the bed, pulling out his notes.

An hour later Lily put down her quill and lay back against her pillows. She felt awful, she was pretty sure her fever was back and she just wanted to sleep. Though, of course, she would never admit as much to James but she had a feeling he knew anyways.

"Why don't you let me write for a while?" James asked.

"James, no one can read your handwriting."

"That's not true! McGonagall can read it."

"If she feels like translating it."

"Ok fine, I'll write on another sheet of paper and then you can copy it over later."

"Fine," Lily said, giving up because she didn't have the energy to fight him. "By the way, do you know if Remus got the Head Boy position? I forgot to ask him last time I talked to him. I'm sure it must be him."

"Actually, it wasn't him," James said, a small grin starting to spread across his face.

"Really? Was it the Hufflepuff prefect? He seemed like he'd be pretty good."

"No, not him either," James said, his grin growing larger. "Nor was it the Ravenclaw prefect."

"Well it couldn't have been the Slytherin one. He didn't get asked back as prefect this year. Who could it be?" Now James couldn't help but flash a smile her direction. "What do you know that I don't?" she asked suspiciously.

"Not too much. Actually I thought, according to you, I didn't know anything you didn't already know."

"Don't be ridiculous James. Who is the Head Boy?"

"Don't you want it to be a surprise?"

"No!"

"Ok, well, I guess I could tell you then."

"How do you even know?"

"Because he and I are very close and personal."

"Good God, it's not Sirius, is it?" she said in shock.

"No, no I'm much closer to this guy."

"Unless you're about to confess to me that you are gay, which I would never believe, there is no one else closer to you than Sirius."

"Oh yes there is."

"Besides your self?" she asked, unbelievingly.

"No, no one besides me."

"So who is the Head-" she stopped and a look of understanding passed across her face. "Oh my God, James, it's you?!" He smiled and nodded. "Wow, I didn't see that one coming," she admitted. "But congratulations, I'm sure we'll have fun together."

"I'm looking forward to it," he said. "And I'm glad you'll never believe I'm gay. It's good to know."

"Well," she said, grinning. "We always wondered about you and Sirius-"

"What! NO WAY! Sirius and I so aren't gay!" She burst into laughter.

"I'm only joking James!"

"Oh," he said, calming down. "Good."

"Are you going to write now?" she asked.

"Oh, yeah. I forgot." He picked up his quill again and began writing. Twenty minutes later he'd reached the end of his notes and he stopped writing. The paper was pretty much finished. It just lacked Lily's evaluation of his work. He, of course, had written that she was a wonderful partner and that he had learned a lot from her. He looked up from the parchment and saw that Lily was unconscious on the bed. She really did look quite sick. He packed up his things and moved her papers from the bed as well. He placed a blanket over her, making sure she was comfortable, then he disapparated.

(A/N: Hey everybody, sorry this is so short, it was a filler chapter. The next one will be longer. I promise! Sorry I'm slowing down on my updates… being home for Christmas means family and friend time. Enjoy!)


	9. Homework Hardships

Lily was still having troubles mastering the homework for Transfiguration two days before the train would take her back to Hogwarts. She was standing in the middle of the living room in her London flat, glad she had chosen to come here to work so her family didn't have to witness her uncontrolled temper. All the furniture had been moved out of the way except for the chair she was attempting to transfigure into a plate and vanish at the same time. The coffee table was buried under books of hints and helps. The floor was littered with papers that she'd written, trying to figure out her own way to make this happen. There was also shattered glass sprinkled across the room due to the fact that she'd thrown her water glass at the wall in frustration.

"Are you absolutely sure you don't want any help?" a voice asked from behind her. She jumped and turned quickly to face James.

"What are you doing here?"

"You left the door open."

"No I didn't."

"Ok, so I just apparated inside. Let me help you." She looked angry for a second but then a look of desperation crossed her face.

"School starts in two days and I just can't figure out how to do this," she said helplessly. He stepped towards her and lightly placed his hands over her arms, turning her to face the chair again.

"Ok, now," he said, positioning his arm over hers, covering her wand hand with his. "You're going to want your wand about this level," he said, raising her arm to a place between her waist and shoulder. "Next, take a small step back so you're angled away from the chair." He placed his other hand over her hip, pulling her back gently. Lily's breath quickened as she felt herself pressed against him. She could feel his breath against her neck. She tensed up even more than she had been before he showed up. "Lily, you need to relax," he said softly, against her ear. She nodded quickly but she didn't loosen up. He sighed. "Do you trust me?" he asked her.

"No, we've been over this already," she replied slowly.

"Ok, well forget that you don't and close your eyes."

"Why?" she asked suspiciously.

"Just do it Lily," he said. She started for a second but then nodded and did so. "Take a deep breath, count to three and release it." He felt her breath in and out slowly. He was trying to keep himself pulled together, he couldn't believe she was allowing him to be so close to her. "Do that again," he said, lowering his voice. He felt her breathing again and as she did so, he could feel the tension start to leave her body. Once he felt he felt the last of the tension leave her body he said, "Ok now, when you use this spell, the words are often not enough, it's more about the movement and the power you put behind the words." She nodded her understanding. "Good, now I want you to feel how your arm moves." He pulled her arm back and brought it down in graceful arc. "Once your arm comes back to the position your arm was originally in, then say the spell. Remember to keep yourself relaxed. Breath with the spell, it will help." She nodded on more time. "Are you ready to try it?" he asked. She nodded slowly and thought the spell through in her head. Or, at least she tried. James warm breath against her neck kept making her mind wander. Her eyes were still closed and her thoughts were wandering far away from the tack she was trying to perform. James' voice washed over her but she didn't really understand the words. "Lily?" he said quietly. She turned around in his arms and opened her eyes to look up at him.

"James," she said quietly, aware of how close they were and how much she didn't mind. James stopped thinking correctly the second she looked into his eyes with her gorgeous green ones. He placed a finger over her mouth, preventing her from saying anything else. His thumb brushed her jaw line slowly, then his hand cupped her chin and he tilted her face upwards. He leaned down so their faces were barely an inch apart. He felt something heavy land on top of him, pushing him violently forward into Lily. He lost his balance and grabbed onto Lily tightly, taking her down with him and they fell in a tangle of arms, legs, and confusion.

James lay still for a minute, checking himself for injuries. He turned slightly, trying to see what was on top of him.

"Sirius!" he barked as he saw his friend grinning wolfishly at him.

"What the hell Sirius," Lily exclaimed from underneath James, pinned to the ground by his arms. Not that she would have been able to get up anyways with the weight of James and Sirius pressing down on her. "Would you both get off of me,' she asked pointedly, struggling to get out of James' grip. Sirius rolled off the top of the pile and started laughing. James unhooked his arms from around her body and stood up slowly. He offered a hand to her but she didn't take it. She sat up and looked at Sirius, glowering.

"Sirius I'm going to kill you," James muttered softly. Sirius sobered up slowly and looked up at James from the ground.

"Sorry mate, my aim is a little off today. I drank too much fire whiskey last night." Lily rolled her eyes.

"Great. What are you doing at my flat?" she asked shortly. She folded her arms across her chest. She felt something sticky on her arms and looked down. There were several cuts on her arms from where she'd landed on pieces of glass.

"Lily, you're bleeding," Sirius pointed out stupidly. James knelt down immediately to look at her arms.

"I'm fine," she said, pulling her arms away from the boys. "Besides, James is bleeding too," she added, pointing at his hands.

"So I am," he said, surprised as he looked at his hands.

"Hold on, I'll be right back," she said, getting up and disappearing into the bathroom. She reappeared a moment later with a towel and a small first aid box. "Let me see you're hands, James," she said, holding out the towel. She wrapped his hands in it and mopped up as much blood as she could. She told Sirius to get some anti-septic from the kit and she applied it to James' hands. Then she wrapped some gauzy bandages around them. "There, that's better," she said, looking at the finished project.

"Thanks," James said.

"Lily, we need to get you taken care of too," Sirius reminded her. He and James were using the towel to stop the blood as she had done. They mimicked her care of James' hands on her arms. She smiled at them and let them help her, knowing it would be useless to resist. "Why is there glass on the ground?" Sirius asked when they'd finished.

"Because I threw a glass of water across the room."

"Oh. Why?"

"Sirius, why don't you tell me why you're here knocking us over?"

"Oh, I almost forgot. James, mum says that you have to give her your list for school or she can't go pick up our things from Diagon Alley. She's been telling you for days to give it to her. I went to your room and tried to find it but I couldn't so I had to come find you instead. I wanted to go back to sleep but I couldn't very well tell mum that or she'd have thought I was sick, which I'm not. And I wasn't about to tell her that I'm just hung-over." He took his time with his story and James and Lily looked at each other in a bemused fashion once he was done. Lily laughed softly and James grinned at her.

"Sorry mate," James said. He pulled the envelope with Hogwart's crest on it from his back pocket and handed it to Sirius. "I had my list with me because I meant to leave it on the table for mum before I left."

"Great, I had to get up because of your stupidity." He groaned and stood, taking the list from James. "Have fun with that Transfiguration homework," he added. "It's some hard shit." He disapparated with a small pop. James and Lily sat still on the floor for another moment looking at each other in amusement.

A minute later Lily stood up and pulled out her wand again. She tried the spell again but she still wasn't having any luck.

"Remember what I just told you," James said softly from the couch. She nodded and turned away from him. She shut her eyes and breathed slowly. She let the tension and the frustration leave her body so that she could concentrate on the spell. She felt James' hand guiding hers, felt the way he angled her body away from the chair. She inhaled deeply and, as she exhaled she brought her arm down and said the incantation.

James watched her relax and breath. She looked so beautiful. He couldn't help but feel bitter for Sirius' badly timed appearance. He wanted to know what would have happened if Sirius hadn't shown up. He pulled himself out of his thoughts and stood up quickly when Lily yelled out in excitement. He looked at the spot where, a minute ago, a chair had stood. It was gone now. She twirled around on the balls of her feet and threw her arms around James' neck.

"Thank you!" she exclaimed. Surprised, he held her tightly, inhaling the sent of her hair.

"Why are you thanking me?" he asked, laughing. "You're the one who did it!"

"Oh, but you helped me so much! I really appreciate it!" She kissed him quickly on the cheek and let him go. "I'm so glad you are going to be Head boy next year, we're going to work well together."

When he left to go home a little later, he still couldn't wipe the grin off his face.

Platform 9 and three quarters was packed, as usual. Lily had said goodbye to her parents in the parking lot so they didn't have to navigate their way through the witches and wizards on the platform. She stopped at a doorway to the train and started lifting her trunk into train.

"I'll help you if you help me," Amanda said behind her. She grinned at her friend and, together, they managed to get the trunks onto the train. Once they were put away in a compartment they left the train again to find their friends. They found Sirius Black first.

"Hey Amanda, hey Lily," he said casually, flipping his hair back casually.

"Hey," they replied at the same time. Peter Pettegriew stumbled up behind Sirius, distracting him.

"Wormtail!" he said. "Where have you been all summer? I was beginning to wonder if old Snivilley had eaten you." Peter mumbled something incoherent and shuffled away from them again. Sirius looked after him grinning. "I'll never understand that kid," he stated.

"Will anyone?" Lily asked. "And please don't start with Snape again this year. Don't you think you've given him enough trouble?"

"What? You want me to stop torturing the kid who calls you a… well, you know?" Sirius asked, surprised.

"Yes! There is no reason to sink to his level!"

"Aw come on, Lily. Where is the fun in that?"

"It's not fun! It's being responsible!"

"Sirius and responsible?" James asked behind her. "Those two don't mix." He grinned at Sirius, who punched him lightly in the arm.

"She doesn't want us tormenting Snivelus this year," he whined.

"Aw, come on, Lily! Where's the fun in that!" James exclaimed. Lily and Amanda looked at each other once before bursting out laughing.

'You two are pathetic," Lily said. She grabbed Amanda's arm and the two of them disappeared into the crowds on the platform.


	10. A Little too Much Alcohol

Lily woke up and turned her head to the side, wakening a sickening headache. She groaned and rolled over slowly so that she was facing away from the open window through which the bright sunlight was pouring. She looked at the bed she was lying in and froze. She didn't have red sheets. "Oh Merlin," she said quietly to herself as she caught sight of her shirt lying on the cluttered desk. The rest of her clothing was strewn across the floor along with pieces of James' clothing. Memories of the previous night slowly reformed in her mind.

…

"Come on Lily, you need to have fun more often! You're coming with me!" Amanda said sitting stubbornly on Lily's bed. They had successfully reached their second weekend of term and the seventh years were given the weekend to go to Hogsmeade. Lily wanted to stay and work on her homework but Amanda was not going to let her do that. "You need to do something daring and impulsive for once in your life!"

"And why is this?" Lily asked from her desk.

"Because you'll catch James' attention that way," Amanda said slyly.

"I thought I could do that simply by existing," Lily replied.

"That maybe true but isn't your turn to do something to show your interest in him?"

"Why would I want to do that?"

"Come on Lily! Like it or not, you've fallen for James and there is nothing you can do to convince us otherwise." Lily turned to face her friend unable to hide the blush in her face.

"Don't say that so loud!" she hissed. "James could be listening!" Amanda grinned.

"Good, so it's agreed, you'll come then." Lily sighed in defeat and set her quill down.

"I guess one night can't hurt."

"No, it can't. Here, I picked an outfit out for you. It's actually one of mine but I think it will fit you." She pulled out the green top with a back that tied and a pair of black jeans.

"Come on Amanda!" Lily said incredulously.

"I'm determined to see you in this and I won't take no for an answer." Twenty minutes later Lily was being dragged from her room in Amanda's clothing.

They found Sirius, Remus and James in the Three Broomsticks sitting at the bar talking with Madame Rosmerta. Amanda wound her way through the remaining students to them.

"We've decided to join you," she said, pulling herself up onto a chair next to Sirius. Lily, having no other choice, sat down next to her shooting daggers at her friend.

"Hey Lily," Remus said, smiling at her.

"Hi," she responded politely.

"Hey Lily," James said.

"Hi James. How are you?"

"I'm good, how are you?"

"I'm fine. Although Amanda and I are about to not be friends anymore," she said grinning at Amanda who rolled her eyes and turned to continue her conversation with Sirius.

"Rosmerta! Can we get another round of drinks including some for our lady friends?" Sirius said. She smiled and nodded at him, laughing at a comment Remus made as she got some drinks.

"I'm not drinking alcohol," Lily whispered shortly to Amanda. Sirius heard her.

"What do you mean Lily? You're not going to join our little drinking game? Come on, where's the fun in that?" Amanda looked at her and grinned.

"It's just one night Lily," she said. Finally Lily agreed reluctantly and Sirius quickly filled them in on the rules of the game. Basically each person would get a chance to tell two stories, one would be true, one false and everyone else had to guess which was which. Anyone who guessed wrongly had to take a shot.

Two hours later the area of the bar they were sitting at was littered with empty shot glasses and half empty glasses of fire whiskey. Lily had started well, guessing both Remus and Amanda's lies correctly. Then she had missed Sirius and James' one after the other. Lily, not having much experience with alcohol had fallen fast after that and was only slightly less drunk then Sirius, who was more then tipsy when the game had started.

"Alright you kids," Rosmerta said, coming over to clean the glasses up. "I think you've had enough. I'm sending you back to the castle now." Remus stood first; he had had the least to drink that night. Sirius fell off his stool and looped an arm around Amanda to support himself. James and Lily made their way slowly towards the door. James fell down outside and Remus went to support him. Lily and Amanda were doing their best to get Sirius home without passing out. Remus dumped James through the portrait hole of the heads dorm and Lily followed. Sirius had fallen asleep on Amanda and she was threatening to fall over under his weight. Remus bid Lily a quick goodnight and went to help Amanda.

She entered her dorm slowly and stumbled right into James, who was still standing in front of the door. He looked down at her and couldn't help thinking that she was extremely beautiful.

"Hey, James?" she said slowly.

"Yeah?"

"I'm glad I came tonight, I had a lot of fun." He didn't reply. He caught her chin with his hand and gently tilted her head back before bringing his lips down to meet hers.

She felt her body immediately relax as James kissed her. Some part of her knew she should pull back and go to her own room but the alcohol in her was creating a warm, carefree mood in her and so she didn't. James, on the other hand was just drunk enough to miss the fact that she was under the influence as well.

They made their way to James' room. He almost had her shirt untied by the time they got there. She pulled his shirt over his head before fumbling with his belt. Neither was thinking clearly when they fell onto the bed.

…

"I slept with James," Lily muttered to herself, sitting up, holding the sheet around her body and ignoring her headache. She made her way slowly to the bathroom and showered. She felt a little better after that. She reentered James's room. She picked up a hoodie from his desk and slipped it on before going out into the small living room area.

As she crossed the room the portrait opened and James walked through.

"You're awake," he said slowly, clearly surprised.

"Yeah," she responded slowly, flinching. "Only could you not shout?" He grinned at her and laughed softly.

"You've never had that much alcohol before I take it?" She shook her head slowly and sank down onto the couch.

"Well here. Take this, it might help." He handed her a plate of toast and a cup of coffee. She smiled her thanks as she took them from him. He sat down on the chair next to the fire and looked at her. "Listen, about last night, I'm sorry," he started to say.

"It's ok James. We were both to drunk to do anything about it. You don't have to be sorry."

"That's not something I usually do. I don't sleep with girls for fun when I'm under the influence."

"That's a good thing to know," Lily replied, smiling at him.

"Lily, I know you think I'm crazy but I really do care about you. I don't want to lose the friendship between us."

"I don't want to lose that either James, but is that all we have?" He looked at her in surprise.

"Are you telling me that-" he trailed off, unable to comprehend or believe what she was saying.

"I'm telling you that I've learned some things about you this summer. I've gotten to know you, and I've realized that I might have misjudged you. I think we might be good together." James started at her disbelievingly. "Or maybe it's just this hangover talking," she added, smiling. He broke out into a grin and moved to sit next to her.

"Let's not let it be that," he replied.

They spent the rest of the day locked away in their dorm, oblivious to the rest of the world and everything going on outside of them.

(A/N: I'm so sorry this has taken me sooo long to publish. It's been written for a long time. Anyways, this is the final chapter in this story. I hope you all enjoy it.)


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